I was thinking this past week about compassion. It might not solve all the world's problems, but it would certainly go a long way if more people had compassion wired into their decision-making process.

The problem is, it's easy for us to dismiss the problems of others. Sometimes, we quickly decide, with limited information, that the person deserves the problems because of some misdeed and is therefore unworthy of our compassion.

But as "aware" people who pay attention to things like the economy, I think it's really important for us to recognize that many people who are suffering are often at the mercy of the economy.

If someone is living in a car, there's a story behind it that put them there. Maybe it's a story of escaping abuse. Maybe it's one unexpected expense that caused everything to fall apart, and this is the only shelter they have available. Maybe they got laid off through no fault of their own because their employer was also suffering from the economy.

And what about that person in line at the grocery store, carefully watching the tally ring up and then putting a few things back because they don't have enough money? The one counting out several dollars in small change to pay their bill? You might be looking at them with annoyance because they're taking so long. You might think, "Perhaps she shouldn't get her nails done or get tattoos and then she could afford food." But again, you don't know the whole story. The tattoos may have been inked on years ago when things were fine. The nails might be done with a gift card that someone gave them. That nice car they're getting into? Perhaps they bought it when times were better and they're desperately hanging onto it because it's all they've got. Circumstances change.

When I was on assistance as a young single mother, I was always careful to dress myself and my children neatly so that people didn't look down on us. I carefully combed and braided their hair, put them in a clean outfit, and washed little hands that were perhaps a bit grubby from playing outdoors.

Of course, some people looked down on us anyway. I could always hear it when someone sighed because they saw me pull out evidence of receiving food assistance. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see their disapproval. I still remember how it felt when my cheeks heated up in embarrassment to be in that situation. I could feel the bile rising up in my throat as I choked back my passionate defense of how I got there. I wanted to scream my story at these doubters and naysayers. I wanted to tell them that I worked hard, that I was doing everything I could to provide for my children, and that I had just fallen on difficult times. But I stayed silent and choked the words down like sour milk because I knew they'd never listen and that if I was emotional, in their eyes, I'd be the trashy person that they seemed to think I was.

Being broke is HARD. It's humiliating. Nobody wants to be so poor that they have to do a running tally in their head at the grocery store to make sure they don't exceed what they have available to spend. Nobody wants to get their kids the absolute cheapest options just to keep their little tummies full. A little bit of compassion is a gift that goes a long way.

No matter how broke we were, I always made an effort to give. I always wanted my daughters to know that we have the ability to lift others up, regardless of our own circumstances. (I wrote more about how we created a family culture of generosity at the holidays in this article over on The Frugalite.) It's so important, especially in this day and age. We will see more and more people facing these difficulties and acquiring aid of any sort is getting increasingly more difficult.

Deciding who is "worthy" of compassion is impossible because unless you spend a long time talking to the person, you'll never know all of the thousand cuts that took the person to the situation they're in. Sometimes, it's one major mistake. But we've all made mistakes in our lives. Some of us were lucky enough not to pay for them with our financial security. Sometimes, it's a series of unfortunate events. A big medical expense. A job loss. A bunch of overdue bills. A chronic illness. A death in the family.

Because of the futility of deciding who is worthy and who is not, I recommend an approach of blanket compassion. Err on the side of kindness. You'll never know how much that means to a person going through incredibly difficult times when that person has only been met with uneducated judgment and scorn.

Kindness and compassion cost nothing, but they might be the biggest gift that someone receives this year. And it's one that we all have within our power and budgets to give.

Love,
Daisy

Having something to eat isn't guaranteed.

We're facing threats to our food supply from many different angles: supply chain breakdowns, drought, food facilities being ravaged by fires, skyrocketing inflation, and outright shortages. No longer can we live in the comfort of unthreatened abundance. We're learning exactly how delicate the system really is.

Prepping and putting back supplies is incredibly important but what we're seeing now goes beyond that. You have to be able to produce and acquire more food. You have to be able to put back your harvests to eat during the winter. You have to be able to prepare items that once were as convenient as popping open a can or little plastic container.

You need a paperback copy of How to Feed Your Family No Matter What, our Organic Prepper anthology with ALL of our content about food. You'll get more than 500 pages of content that are all about food when you can't just go to the store and buy whatever you want.